Idler came loose. Can't replace serpentine

[RoadHead]

I have a 5.0L AWD 97 Explorer.

My serpentine had been making noise while idling for a while now. It came loose today and I went to replace it, and this is what I found where the idler should be. Whatever fastens it to the engine was gone and it was just hanging on a peg. Both it and the idler itself are worn down quite a bit. The inside of the idler gear has a bunch of splintered metal.

How easily is this fixed? It looks like major surgery would be needed to fix where it attaches.

 

[koda2000]

if that IS the idler pulley (kinda hard to tell from the angle and the destruction) the idler pulley is held on with a bolt. pretty sure it's a shoulder bolt, but i could be wrong. you'll have to get the remains of the bolt out and replace it with a new one. how you get the old one out could be tricky (as there's not much left to grab hold of. a good pair of vise grips maybe? weld a nut on the end of it maybe? most of the time the new pulley will not come with a new bolt. make sure whatever you replace it with is a shoulder bolt as a regular bolt may tighten up on the pulley bearing a prevent it from turning. the salvage yard would be a good place to get the correct bolt if it's not readily available at the Ford dealership.

in the future, don't ignore strange noises.

 

[RoadHead]

The bolt is there (with most of the head, anyway) and the idler took a chunk of the housing. I have a mechanic friend who is willing to fix it, but I'm double checking what my shopping list of parts should be.

-grooved idler pulley
-bolt
-are there any other pieces??
-the housing(?!)
-anything else?

Where is the best place to find everything? An idler pulley is easy to find online, but I'm worried about the housing (wasn't sure what to search for)

 

[RoadHead]

Also searching for the bolt size/thread count

 

[koda2000]

The bolt is there (with most of the head, anyway) and the idler took a chunk of the housing. I have a mechanic friend who is willing to fix it, but I'm double checking what my shopping list of parts should be.

-grooved idler pulley
-bolt
-are there any other pieces??
-the housing(?!)
-anything else?

Where is the best place to find everything? An idler pulley is easy to find online, but I'm worried about the housing (wasn't sure what to search for)

as the back of the serpentine belt rides on the idler pulley, it should be smooth steel. not ribbed plastic. your truck's original idler pulley was smooth steel. any auto parts store should have the pulley in stock. as far as the bolt and possible washer/spacer which was probably under the bolt head, Ford dealer or salvage yard. if the piece that the bolt screws into is not part of the engine block (i don't recall if it's a bolt-on piece) salvage yard again.

i went and looked at one of my 5.0's. i see the bolt screws into the bracket that supports the power steering pump and a/c compressor. definately a salvage yard part if you need to replace it.

 

[RoadHead]

Thanks koda.

The circular piece that came off is definitely ribbed. Maybe it's not called in idler--but if you use the diagram in the second pic it sounds like you were looking at the smooth idler at the top just before power steering going clockwise.

Going clockwise I'm looking at the bottom left just after the crankshaft and before the tensioner.

Nonetheless if I figure out the bolt I'll share the info.

 

[jremington59]

That pulley is a grooved pulley. Take off the shroud underneath and I think it's 14 mm. It looks like just the aluminum from the pulley is over the nut. Your going to have to grab what's left of the pulley with vice grips or something to be able to turn the bolt. That's been slopping for a long time to be eaten up like that.

 

[bluestream1]

This must have been making one heck of a noise before it eventually failed. Did you not think it would be a hood idea to stop to check it out?

 

[koda2000]

That pulley is a grooved pulley. Take off the shroud underneath and I think it's 14 mm. It looks like just the aluminum from the pulley is over the nut. Your going to have to grab what's left of the pulley with vice grips or something to be able to turn the bolt. That's been slopping for a long time to be eaten up like that.

if it's the lower idler, then yes it's a grooved pulley as the front (ribbed side) of the belt rides on it.

 

[RoadHead]

Turns out it was only a simple matter of replacing the pulley with no other work necessary.

The bolt screwed out easily but we needed a new bolt, so the new pulley with bolt came from the dealer for $34, as opposed to the pulley alone from any parts store for $15. I never got the bolt specs.

The only complicated part was dislodging some stuck metal, which we did carefully with an air hammer.

All is well. Thanks everyone for the advice